Find your Niche

Back to Reality…

I tell you what-

If you ever have the chance to take a weekend and retreat to the woods, I HIGHLY recommend it… whether it’s with a significant other or just by yourself, it is like the most therapeutic feeling in the world.

This weekend, we were thankful to call this little beauty, in Hot Spring, AR, home:

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The owner told us it was built in 1923 and was one of the originals on the property. Everything about it was clearly from way back when (there were some updates), and I absolutely LOVED it.

One of the best parts was that the main street and Walmart were literally 5 minutes away, but you would never have known- it was so quiet and peaceful, and backed up to the Lake Hamilton!

Plus, we still had access to 30 cable channels, so I got to watch my World Cup while the hubby slept! I think we can all agree that Croatia had an amazing run even if they didn’t win! 🙂

So, while we did enjoy hiding out in the cabin, that isn’t all we did. We ventured out to find the Hot Springs that fed Lake Hamilton because we were told they were close, so we kayaked the lake!

Now, I had never kayaked before, and there is most certainly a learning curve, but after about 30 minutes, I found my groove and was able to keep up! What was great is that I had a blast, and now my husband and I have a new hobby we can do together, and while he fishes, I most certainly can keep myself occupied…

I only just started this book, but I'm already in love!

And, eventually, we did find the Springs!

We found it interesting that the water here was really cold here even though they’re supposed to be HOT Springs, but the guy did say it ‘cools off a little’ by the time it gets to Lake Hamilton, so there’s that. Either way, it was a beautiful sight, and certainly something you can’t get to on a boat- maybe on foot, but we also learned that some homeless people live under the bridge above, so that might be ill-advised.

One thing I did learn about kayaking is the appropriate dress. I tan really easily, but I thought my legs would be covered by the boat, and well…

Now I’m rocking a sweet little Capri tan line…

Aside from hanging around our cabin and the lake, we ventured into Downtown Hot Springs which easily could have occupied DAYS of our time. There is so much history and original structures that it really is something to marvel at.

Bathhouse Row had my inner history nerd swooning all the way down Central Ave.

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One of these original structures (Superior Baths) is now the home of the only Brewery in a National Forest, and the only brewery that serves Thermal Water Beer and Root Beer (in the world), so, of course, we had to try it. In my lust for the Root Beer Float, I didn’t snap a picture, but it was really good, and I got one of the Goat Rock Beer (I probably messed that name up big) my husband got which he only picked because it was supposed to have ‘Texas Sized Flavor’.

They had 18 different flavors on tap, and if you were feeling really adventurous, you could take a ‘Beer Bath’ and try all 18 flavors in 4 oz glasses. When we go back with friends, my husband plans on taking a Beer Bath with all our friends… lol…

Overall, we loved our experience in Hot Springs and are eager to make this an annual ‘friends’ trip in the summer because there is so much to do, and I know we only saw a small fraction of it.

It really was nice to unplug and forget all the worries of the world. We watched movies, 1 episode of The Orville (which we now think we want to watch the 1st season), the World Cup, cooked each other breakfast, made duck friends, and just laid in bed listening to the sounds of nature. We definitely didn’t want to come back to reality today, but life must go on… at least we’re refreshed.

This is the kind of getaway I recommend to anyone who needs to decompress.

I can’t imagine a better way to have celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary!

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